17605: Lemieux: News24.com (South Africa)/AP: Mbeki 'not welcome' in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Mbeki 'not welcome' in Haiti
31/12/2003 11:29  - (SA)

Pretoria - Neither President Thabo Mbeki nor armed South
African troops were welcome in Haiti, a Haitian civil
society grouping, Groupe 184, said on Wednesday.

"South Africans, please do not be fooled -- the majority of
Haitians are not pleased, proud or welcoming of President
Thabo Mbeki's visit to Haiti," it said in an e-mailed
statement.

"In fact, his visit is viewed as an insult to most of us
and to the memory of our forefathers who fought for our
independence and our liberty during 12 long years."

"Two hundred years ago these brave men proved to the world
that a tiny black state could indeed be a sovereign nation
worthy of their own independence. They set an example that
other nations throughout the world later followed," the
statement said.

Mbeki, along with his wife Zanele and Foreign Affairs
Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was to attend the
celebrations of two centuries of Haitian independence from
France on New Year's Day.

South Africa has offered Haiti R10m "as material support"
for its celebrations.

On Monday, Mbeki told journalists in the Bahamas it was
proper that South Africa had donated the money. Those who
criticised the action "don't know anything about the
bicentennial," he was quoted as saying.

In an article in South Africa's Sunday Times this week, he
wrote: "The celebration of the bicentenary of the Haitian
Revolution and the Decade of Liberation in South Africa
during the same year, 2004, must serve to inspire all
Africans to act together, decisively, to end their poverty,
underdevelopment, dehumanisation and marginalisation."

It was reported that the SA Navy replenishment vessel SAS
Drakensberg would serve as a safe haven for Mbeki and his
party if the situation in Haiti got out of hand.

Groupe 184 said: "Today, in Haiti the spirit is not one of
joyful celebration. Again, we find ourselves fighting for
liberty, equality and fraternity against a totalitarian
dictatorship that has played a devastating role in Haiti's
depletion.

"This oppressive government that had promised Haitians
prosperity and peace has instead perverted the country
through violence, drug trafficking, and abject poverty -
this is the same government that President Thabo Mbeki is
supporting with his presence in Haiti," the statement said.


"The deployment of armed South African troops on our
sovereign territory is indeed a contradiction to what our
forefathers had intended for us two hundred years ago."

It concluded: "President Thabo Mbeki, you and your armed
troops are not welcomed in Haiti. Go back home and try to
regain Nelson Mandela's spirit."

Mbeki's spokespeople could not immediately be reached for
comment.

According to its website, Groupe 184 is a formation of
civil society groups that committed themselves last
December to promote respect for the laws and norms of their
republic and democratic principles.

The original 184 signatories have since grown to over 300,
it says.


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